In contrast, the typical Spanish galleon had a tonnage of three to five hundred. The largest, the flagships of the fleet, never engaged privateers in the Spanish Main. There they used smaller galleons and naos, well-armed carracks. Yet the galleon remains the ship most associated with piracy in the Spanish Main. With a high forecastle and towering sterncastle, she was an unwieldy ship. Her capacity for cargo lessened her speed, and she often carried passengers, who hindered the crew when they had to fight. These galleons carried a lot of firepower and soldiers, but rarely employed either unless boarding was imminent.
Drake, who was born in Plymouth in 1540, earned the nickname "El Dragón" from the Spanish. He began his sailing career with his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, who had a knack for combining commerce, warfare, and piracy with national defense. During his lifetime, he was a slave trader, pirate, naval administrator, and national hero. He was the first Sea Dog to attempt to break Spain's monopoly in the New World. Elizabeth knighted him in 1588, the same year in which he led a squadron against the Spanish Armada. He died in 1595 while on a raid with Drake, who died the following year of fever while at sea.
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